Belgian GP 2015

Mightyboosh

Suspended / Banned
Messages
106
Name
Andrew
Edit My Images
Yes
Hello all

Just found out that I will be attending first GP next year in Belgium. As I will be there for the fri-sat-sun I thought it would be ample time to get some photos in.

Anyone have any tips / suggestions / general advice regarding photographing GP's?

Many thanks
 
I went this year with my GF and it was amazing!

Hopefully the following will help.

I took all my shots with a Nikon D300s and a 70-300 (the Nikon VR version) which I felt gave enough reach, certainly plenty enough for the frame to be full of a car from most good viewing points. A 400mm+ lens would be good for getting right in to car detail level but in reality I think there is very few places you could shoot from GA ticket areas such as I did, where they'd be going slowly enough for it to work. I took a 17-50 but hardly used it. Next time I would take the D300s, 70-300 and a good quality P&S for anything wide angle, snapshots etc.

I took alot of panning shots, but don't fall into the trap of just doing that (like I did on the 1st day), get a nice mix of panning and frozen action shots.

We got there on the Thursday for the pit walk - recommended if you can, be fully prepared for it to be busy. Because it will be. This allows you to walk from La Source to Bus Stop via the start/finish straight, and the pits so you can see reasonably close into the garages. We saw several drivers, lots of cars being worked on, and some of the GP3 cars which they were wheeling in for scruiteenering.

From Friday to Sunday we tried a variety of places to shoot from:

La Source - there are a few spots here so you can shoot over the fence from, but they get busy quickly.

Eau Rouge - as you walk from the above to Eau Rouge there are a few good vantage spots to see the cars shoot up Eau Rouge. Worth a look, even though you are viewing from behind. As you walk up the hill next to Eau Rouge there are again good points to shoot over the fence. The best is on the crest of the hill where there are holes cut into the fence to allow you to shoot through. Again gets busy and there was lots of us taking turns.

Kemmel Straight - if you get to the middle of the straight, where the hill path peaks at the highest point, you get some great shots of the cars coming along the straight, and you can also see the Bus Stop, S/F straight, La Source and a big screen TV so handy for a race.

Les Combe - Didn't hang around here long as it seemed harder to shoot over a fence. We walked down the path under the track to Bruxells.

Bruxells - Alot of through the fence shooting here.

Pouhon - Again there is some good high vantage points here, if your lucky you can shoot the cars as they come down the hill into the corner but again it's a busy spot.

We then walked through the forest back to the S/F straight so can't comment on Stavelot / Blachimont.

Bus Stop - Here you can perch up in the forest areas to get a good vantage point of them hammering it into the chicane, slowing right down, attacking it then picking up the pace into the S/F straight. A good spot to see them really attack.

We watched FP3 & Qualy from the Bus Stop, and the Race from the Kemmel Straight.

The food in the track is a bit crap, but I ate alot of waffles!

And pack waterproofs and be prepared for it to rain, because it will, at some point, hammer it down.

Enjoy!!
 
Thanks for the tips guys - Stu really appreciate the time taken and the advice given, much appreciated!!
 
As you are going for 3 days, defo have some camera free time. Enjoy some of the racing without worrying about photographs.

Noise wise, you probably won't need ear plugs for the F1 cars - but GP2 (which I am assuming will be there too) is still pretty damn loud. Big difference in volume.

Don't get disheartened if you can't get the shots you want. GA viewing at many circuits doesn't necessarily give you the opportunity for great shots. I would say that 400mm would be entry level for normal car shots, but if you are keen to experiment with other types of shots, you can get some interesting images. For me, F1 is about the people, the circuit and the cars - so if you don't have access to 400mm, don't worry about it as there are plenty of other shots to be had. :)

Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic time!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top